The William Morris Pub — Restaurant in London

We booked the upstairs function room for our wedding reception. One of the main reasons we chose it was the minimum spend package, which covered the use of the space, food, drinks, and service. The location was ideal – just a 10-minute drive from our registry office, with nearby parking at the industrial estate and access to the late-night tube. The setting is next to a canal and tucked away from the main road, which gave it a more private and relaxed feel. For our guest list of around 40 people at lunch, the room size was just right, and having an outside space was a great addition in the summer as guests could step out between courses and afterwards.

The room itself often comes partly decorated from the previous event, which you can choose to keep or redecorate yourself. It also comes with a bar, and as part of our package we were able to select certain drinks, have prosecco and drinks buckets, while guests could also order their own directly from the bar.

Special mention must go to Kayana, who was our organiser. She added a lot of value for the package by meeting us multiple times in person and by email to go over details, and by helping us tie up the last-minute organisation the day before.

The booking process wasn’t completely smooth. After securing our booking, the venue changed their booking platform which meant we had to ask for a copy of the deposit receipt. There was also confusion with the initial package we were sent – it was priced for the winter season, which was cheaper than summer, and caused some budget confusion. The buffet pricing also came back higher than originally advised, so we had to negotiate this too.

On the day itself, the staff were laid back and overall helpful. They allowed us to book the Sunday roast (with different meat options) for a Friday lunch, as long as we ordered two weeks in advance. The food was delicious, served in generous portions, and no one was left hungry. Service was efficient overall, but some of the children’s meals didn’t arrive until quite late. From our seating plan and name tags, it seemed like the staff served table by table and called out dishes rather than following a set format, but everything got to the right place in the end. Dessert came out later, which actually worked in our favour as it gave guests a break to mingle before the next course. We also had a buffet for the evening reception, which was well presented and equally tasty.

After the meal, the staff cleared some tables for us to open up the room for dancing and were always on hand if we needed anything. They kindly let us store our cake and decorations overnight, and at the end of the night we had to clear our own decorations before the next function. The only real issue was at the point of paying the bill, when we didn’t want to pay the full service charge because the room hadn’t been set up as requested the night before. The manager was quite stern with us, but we came to an agreement and paid a portion.

Overall, the venue has a lot going for it: a great location, a good-value package, a pretty canal-side setting, flexible space, and tasty food. The staff, especially Kayana, helped make the day go smoothly, and the space worked perfectly for our size of event. That said, some of the service details need smoothing out. The pub is advertising as a wedding venue but finer organisational details need to first be addressed before it can advertised that confidently. The booking process and communication around pricing could be clearer, and if the room was not free the day before our event, we would not have been able to decorate anything the way we wanted. I would recommend it if you want a flexible, good-value function room and are happy to stay on top of the finer details during the...

On Sunday, the 27th/ 10th/ 24 we experienced the worst treatment by the William Morris pub. We had a table booked for 10 children to celebrate my daughter's 7th birthday. (a package offered by the Wimbledon gymnastics centre). This package stated “we can offer children a hot meal and a drink at either the Belgium brasserie mills or the William Morris pub”. We paid for the Gymnastics party and the meal at the William Morris pub in advance, I received confirmation from both venues all seemed great! Four days before our event I received an e-mail from the William Morris pub cancelling our booking, after frantically calling they rightfully honoured the booking but I could tell they were displeased to do so. I visited the pub early on the Sunday to pre-order the food as  was requested , this was to ensure the food would be ready for the children at 2:10 PM. When I arrived at the pub they couldn't locate the booking (there was no booking). The manager informed me the children would have to stay upstairs, no mention of where upstairs but I assumed it would have reservation signs on the tables. After my daughter's birthday party held at the Wimbledon gymnastics centre we all headed over and straight upstairs at the William Morris pub. No sign of our tables. I had to leave my partner with 10 plus small children while I headed downstairs to try to find out what was going on, after several attempts someone finally informed me our tables would be inside the small hall upstairs. Unfortunately, we were not able to gain access to the hall, the doors were locked and all the lights were off. After returning downstairs again and begging for someone to help they finally came up and open the doors, but they didn’t even bother to turn the lights on, after hunting and faffing we finally locatedthe light switches hidden behind the bar. We settled the children and once again I had to go downstairs to ask about the food I pre-ordered earlier, the manager was extremely rude and made me feel so uncomfortable as if I was bothering him. Finally, the food arrived but no drinks for the children. I had to head downstairs to repeatedly ask again... and again... Obviously by now I was feeling very frustrated so I informed the manager I felt he was being rude, he had no interest in what I had to say.

To make my experience even worse before we left the venue we took the Children downstairs to wash their hands and a female staff member approached me to ask if I was from the party upstairs, I said I was, the lady then stated we had to pay extra for the ice cream. Yes, we did pre order ice creams but nobody remembered to to bring them up, no one remembered to check if we were OK or if we needed anything else but charging us extra for ice creams we did not have, ohh they can remember that! To summarise the customer service was a complete shambles from beginning to end, they had absolutely no consideration this was a special event or that we had ten small children. As much as we can sympathise staff were busy this was supposed to be a pre booked event offered by the Wimbledon Gymnasts centre (whom were brilliant) the way we were treated was horrendous and simply...

We had our wedding reception at the WMP on Sat 20th May 2023. Kit and the team worked their backsides off to deliver a seamless, laid back reception with an amazing atmosphere. We had a few ideas as to what we wanted to do as we were unsure what the weather would be like. The team bent over backwards to help us and gave us the perfection event.

We had lovely sharing platters of hot food, a Prosecco reception and then an evening of drinks and dancing. We received so many compliments from our guests. The pub is a real gem. There is such a lovely vibe. The team are the ones that really made it though. I heard nothing but excellent feedback. They anticipated our needs, delivered every part with professionalism and made the whole event flow beautifully.

Our guests loved the way we did our wedding. There was no waiting around or unnecessary formality, yet it still felt like a wedding. We didn't have to do much to make the venue look great as it already does. We had bits and pieces to make it our own and the team were there to help and support.

I can't fault them. Excellent value for money and the pub has a soul, unlike a boring golf course with a standard 3 course meal and half a bottle of wine. For the same budget we were able to provide delicious food that the guest actually liked and a flowing pre paid bar. Result. We hope that the pub holds many more events like this. They deserve every success and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone and everyone. We will definitely do another party there as soon as we can think of an occasion!

To the whole team at WMP. THANK YOU! You rock and we will be back for Sunday dinner soon! Emily...